TOG - The Older Gamers

Nadanova · 25th February 2011, 05:33 AM

This is a small petition for help with a map-wide project linking the major settlements of the TOG survival / creative server.
I'm wanting to build, when the proper server comes back up, a recreation of the Clacks system from the Discworld books. For those of you who don't know what the Clacks is: It is a network of Optical Telegraph towers that stretches across the world between the major cities, a night it communicates using lights to flash binary signals between the towers and in the daytime it uses white and black shutters. A bit like this: File:Optical telegraph01 4484.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia but generally more 'tower like'.

Each tower has to be manned for the signal to pass along, the pattern is set up at the transmitting tower and bounced by operators who know the codes to get it to the destination recieving tower. All towers can transmit and recieve and have an 8 bit upline and an 8 bit downline so 2 signals can be sent in parallel to different recievers.

On the Rawcritics minecraft server i built a large part of the network, you can see the hub and follow part of the tower line on this map, the bits belonging to me are marked out as: Grand Trunk: RawCritics Server Map.
The hub there is a large town and is in a fairly central loction to send messages to most of the major cities: Jade Empire, Creeper Bay, Pirate Bay, Zombie Flats, Flatcliffs, Newport.
I appreciate that I might not be able to find a central location to build something of that size in so I might just build a Grand Hub Tower, hub towers are 4 way or 8 way if you build 2 stacks of lamps that branch off later down the tower line.

Basically I need materials, some sort of map of the server and permission from major settlement owners to build this network so I don't encroach by mistake or build in the wrong direction, the towers are normally spaced at the limit of normal viewing distance or at a decent range in the far viewing distance. The communications are sent via REDSTONE TORCHES being switched on and off. I now leave you with a picture of my newest tower design that I built in the temp creative server while the main map was down.

Cheers guys, constructive critiscism and offers of help please

Sp!at · 25th February 2011, 09:43 AM

I like this idea. We could use redstone switches to set doors and/or lights as a method of creating a signal system. Once we have a blueprint we could start building.

Sorontar · 25th February 2011, 10:58 AM

This is a noble idea but I have a few questions/concerns:

Do you realise that the world for the Creative server is more than twice the size of the RawCritics world?
If you want to send a message to a location that is 10 stations away, do you have to have a person on each station? How do they get there on worlds without warps (ie. our Survival world)?
Do you also realise that TOG people tend to build in their own areas, rather than cluster as settlements? There are some exceptions to this, but this means that there may be vast tracts of lands without any building between them.
What sort of coding do you use? Letters or Letters and words?

Sorontar

MadMax · 25th February 2011, 11:55 AM

Ummm , errr, you could press T in game and type a message too! I'm not sure I see the point, other than some nerdy fulfilment?

Sorontar · 25th February 2011, 12:23 PM

Well MadMax, why do some of us build airships and boats that can't move (without mods).... because we can.

I like the idea of the semaphore, being a great fan of Pratchett (presently reading Nation), but I am just worried about its feasibility in our worlds. I suspect we never have enough people on at the same time to make it work without running between each station. I think it certainly won't be practical for Survival (no spawning items, no warps) and a lot of the buildings in Creative are too spread out to benefit from it. However, on a small scale, we could probably do it on Creative near the Spawn village.

Sorontar

Bazz · 25th February 2011, 08:13 PM

I agree - would be a good 'project' for sure - just one (and I suggest perhaps like most) that is not ,uch utilised after completion.

Awesome community project though....

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMax

I'm not sure I see the point, other than some nerdy fulfilment?

lol - that right there is the point - because.

Though you could press T, that's the real world - and apart from spawn village in the creative server, I dont see many fibro three bedroom houses in our worlds

I also notice Nadanova uses the steampunk pack - extremely fitting in such a setting!

Nads, if you want to run a test (or even teach me how it works) I'd be happy to have a go when the creative server comes back up - if you built where I suggested, we should be able to get a small scale model going between your camp and mine.

Cheers,

Thermal Ions · 25th February 2011, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMax

I'm not sure I see the point, other than some nerdy fulfilment?

Nerdy fulfilment taken from a Terry Pratchett book - it doesn't get much better (except maybe a Douglas Adams book).

My signature and avatar should have given away my opinion already.

On a practical level - it'd be of no value and probably only have one or two of them used to show off to new players on the server. After all we don't run an RP server as such.

That said, I think it would be cool to have a few of them stretch off in a given direction such that they don't interfere with other's constructions.

Bazz · 25th February 2011, 11:04 PM

I agree thermal - more a creative server idea than an SMP idea....

Nadanova · 26th February 2011, 12:12 AM

Thank you to everyone that is showing an interest, of course it is of no practical value but it sure is fun to set up a line and bounce signals along it, for ease of use if anyone ever wanted to I could definately have a warp for each tower, each tower has its own identifier anyway so it'd be pretty self explanatory.
Thanks very much for the offers of help Bazz, I'm starting to build another line on the rawcritics survival, it'll probably never be used but its a fun asthetic toy to piss around with with a few people.